Freak Scene #58: Void Vision, Wild Thing and U.S. Girls Giveaway

Sometimes going to the record store can be a bummer. You feel unenthusiastic, there isn’t much on the new wall that intrigues you, and you leave disheartened. This happened to me recently but I managed to dig through the abyss of lo-fi, effects pedals, and mediocrity to rise above to the land of two excellent albeit wildly different 7-inches by Void Vision and Wild Thing. To make myself feel better about my recent vinyl dry spell and to at least give you all a good record – I am a tireless hero after all - I am giving away some awesome new 7”s by U.S. Girls. Check out the reviews and the giveaway after the cut!

PLEASE NOTE: As I mentioned in my last column, I have a new address. Please do not send packages to the Lerner Hall address, I will not receive them!

U.S. Girls Giveaway!The Atelier Ciseaux label has just released a new 7-inch by Freak Scene and Fader favorite U.S. Girls. The label has kindly offered to supply five Freak Scene readers with a free copy of the new 7-inch, of which only 300 were pressed. To win, just be one of the first five people to e-mail faderfreakscene@gmail.com. You don’t need to answer any questions or say something cool, although if you want to share some weird/personal/goofy stuff, go ahead as long as you send an email. To psych yourself up, enjoy the B-side from the 7”, “Take Over Dynamix,” which is streaming below.

Stream: U.S. Girls, "Take Over Dynamix"

Void VisionPhiladelphia puts itself into the minimal/cold wave game with the (debut?) 7-inch by Void Vision. Granted, I have a predilection for this kind of music but of the upcoming crop of new minimal/cold wave bands, Void Vision have put out two songs with this 7-inch which convince me that they stand out from the rest of the pack. I can’t even get into a discussion of what is and what isn’t “true” cold wave and I only use that genre description because this gal is Wierd Records, the beacon of the cold/minimal world, approved. Really though, this is not particularly minimal or methodical, it is just very appealing dark synthpop. The a-side, “In 20 Years,” offers exactly what I want from this kind of thing; while I assume the synthesizers are analog, they emit lush, swirling sounds that are paired with melodramatic female vocals—sung with a slight British accent of course—and an expansive chorus. The faux-British accent is in full effect on side b slow burner “Black and White,” as well, moaning, “You never knew my love” over and over again. To be real, subtlety is not what I want in a goth record so this works for me. The female vocals make me think that Void Vision will probably get asked to play more than a few fashion parties this fall, maybe at Oak or some other store where the clothes are black and drapey. This is not an insult to my mind and frankly shouldn’t be to anyone else’s either—get that money Void Vision, keep making music like this because I will be right there at those parties with a free drink in my hand. Buy it for your goth DJ night from Blind Prophet records (Sean from Cult of Youth's new label!) HERE.

Wild ThingThe latest 7-inch from one of the most enjoyable acts from Chaos in Tejas with four brash and crass garage punk songs and some slightly offensive greaser domestic violence art work. From all I can see, prodding the listener is a substantial part of Wild Thing, so what else could I really expect? Side b track “I'm Smoking (Leave Me Alone)” has the same cadence as Minor Threat’s “In My Eyes,” with the moralizing replaced by obnoxious nicotine-tinged taunting. It rules. I am, of course, particularly stuck on the title track, “Age Difference.“ The chorus, It’s not fair/ It’s not fair/ What you’re doing to me/ Little girl stay away from me, is a line that many a record collecting Humbert Humbert will hear and silently sympathize with and understand. I could write for pages about the experience of feeling like an odd girl out at shows populated by fucking old guys who have never learned how to be around chicks but I will leave that for basically every other column I write. All I will say is that creep issues aside this song is a slice of infectious punk and Wild Thing have tapped into a very specific dilemma for the posturing nerds of our time. I am not quite sure if I should commend them for that or not. Certainly this is all probably a bit tongue in cheek considering singer/bassist Brace’s humorous crowd baiting at Chaos in Tejas but I still like these songs. Get it from Dagger Man Records HERE.